A hand carrying a tray full of dishes came in first, then immediately followed by another tray, and in the end there was Fan JiJing.

“You-how did you get in?” Hua HuaiXiu was almost tongue-tied.

Fan JiJing innocently stretched out his leg and said, “I pushed open the door.”

“I’m not asking you that, I’m asking you…” Hua HuaiXiu looked down and saw his own naked body. Blood rushed from the bottom of his feet all the way up to the top of his head, and a light pink suffused his pale, silky skin.

Fan JiJing put down the tray and took out the dishes one by one. “Cousin, do you like braised pork or poached chicken?”

“Is there any braised pork?” Hua HuaiXiu quietly reached out for the clothes hanging on the shelf next to him. Wearing the clothes wet was better than sitting in the basin naked.

“To decide which plate to put in front of you.” Fan JiJing finished setting up the dishes and turned around. He put the trays on the shelf, then sat down by the table. He happened to directly face Hua HuaiXiu.

Hua HuaiXiu knocked the wooden bath. “This is my room.”

Fan JiJing nodded. A naive, innocent expression which Hua HuaiXiu hadn’t seen for a long time appeared on his face. “I know.”

“Then why are you in my room?”

“To eat.” Fan JiJing answered as he distributed the chopsticks.

“I don’t want to eat. Take it away.” Hua HuaiXiu turned his face to the side and swallowed saliva almost unnoticeably.

Fan JiJing’s lips moved. It seemed like there was something he wanted to say but was too embarrassed to talk about.

“Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

Fan JiJing sighed, “I canceled the other room already.”

“Why?” Hua HuaiXiu stared at him.

“Because I don’t have enough money to eat.” Fan JiJing felt guilty as he looked at him. “I spent all of my money while I was looking for you.”

On his way looking for him?

Was he really coming to look for him?

The warm water inside the basin seemed to have passed through Hua HuaiXiu’s body and flowed right into his heart. “Why are you looking for me?”

Hua HuaiXiu looked around. After making sure that nothing was mirror-like around here, he slowly stood up and dried himself.

“Cousin.”

“Yes?”

A set of clothes dropped from the sky.

Hua HuaiXiu reached out with his hand to catch it. Right as he turned his head around, he saw Fan JiJing staring at him innocently. “You!”

“Put on some clean clothes.” Fan JiJing openly ran his eyes over him, then turned around again.

If eyes could pierce holes, his back would have hundreds of wounds already.

Hua HuaiXiu put on the clothes deftly. He sat down by the table, picked up the chopsticks, and started eating without saying a word.

Fan JiJing turned around in silence and sat down. After staring at him for a while, Fan JiJing frowned and said, “Cousin, you’ve gotten skinnier.”

Hua HuaiXiu’s chopsticks paused for a second. “Where did you get the clothes?” He recalled that Fan JiJing didn’t have anything with him when they met.

“I just bought it from the ready-made clothing store.” He didn’t tell him that when he pushed open the door at midnight, the shop owner who thought he was a robber was scared to the point of almost passing out. “I came down the mountain in too much of a hurry and didn’t have time to buy it for Cousin.”

Hua HuaiXiu asked, “You knew the killers were after me?”

Fan JiJing sighed, “Unfortunately, it was too late by the time I knew.”

“So, you were coming to save me?” Just like the saying, ‘once bitten, twice shy’, Hua HuaiXiu couldn’t stop his thoughts from going astray and down the other path.

But Fan JiJing was quick and decisive in stopping his imagination from running wild. “The only reason that I came to look for Cousin is because I missed you.”

“Is that so?” Those eyes which were as clear as water in autumn clearly had enormous disbelief written in them.

Fan JiJing knew that this ice hadn’t been frozen for one day, and there was no way for him to melt it in a short time either. So he had to calmly change the topic, “Why didn’t you go back to the Hua Family?”

“Do you think I can go back?” Hua HuaiXiu stared at him. Unless he agreed to the marriage arrangement, even if he went back, he would only end up being swept out like rubbish.

Fan JiJing lowered his head and fell silent.

Hua HuaiXiu narrowed his eyes, “Are you trying to persuade me to go back and get married?”

“Of course not.” Fan JiJing raised his head and firmly said, “If you really go back to marry, I will surely go back and kidnap the bridegroom.”

Hua HuaiXiu pursed his lips, striving to not let the joy overflow and come out from the corner of his mouth.

“It’s just that I don’t want Cousin to run into danger.” He clearly knew that there must be experts from Huihuang Sect around the forest waiting for an opportunity to rescue him, but the instant he saw Hua HuaiXiu in danger, the panic in his heart was still indescribable. He didn’t even dare to imagine what it would be like for him if the Huihuang Sect didn’t handle it appropriately and made a mistake while the Assassin Sect was going after Hua HuaiXiu for a kill…

“Even if you don’t like me, I won’t force myself to do things that I don’t like.” Hua HuaiXiu lowered his head and put a piece of braised pork into his mouth.

It was a pity he didn’t see how gentle and soft his eyes were as the person sitting across looked at him.

“Go back with me.” Fan JiJing raised the topic again.

This time, Hua HuaiXiu didn’t decline with determination like last time. Instead, he asked back, “With what status?”

“Any status.” Fan JiJing quickly continued before Hua HuaiXiu could flip out, “As long as Cousin agrees to go back with me, even if you want the position of zhangmen of the Jiuhua Sect, I will be okay with it.”

Hua HuaiXiu raised his eyes and looked at him suspiciously, “Really?” If there was any other thorn on his heart back then besides being driven down the mountain heartlessly, it would be the position of zhangmen. It seemed like the position of zhangmen was more important than anything else in Fan JiJing’s mind. If he could use all possible means to try to obtain it for the first time, then of course he could do so again for the second time, the third time…

Fan JiJing put down his chopsticks, his eyes remained fixed on Hua HuaiXiu as he solemnly said, “From now on, as long as you ask for it, I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

Hua HuaiXiu was still hesitating in his mind. After he knew what kind of tricks Fan JiJing was able to pull off, his trust for him was gone forever like the water in the Yellow River. “Why did you drive me out back then?”

“I didn’t want you to see more of my other side.” Fan JiJing had also suffered. If what Hua HuaiXiu liked the most about him before was his simpleness, then he was willing to maintain this false appearance for a lifetime. Were it not for Hua HuaiXiu not willing to leave the Jiuhua Sect no matter what, he would never take off the mask himself.

Hua HuaiXiu raised his eyebrows. “You want to keep me in the dark for a lifetime?”

“If it’s possible.” Fan JiJing bluntly admitted.

Hua HuaiXiu became silent.

It was not like he had never thought about why the other person didn’t hide it from him for a lifetime. At least, the Fan JiJing in his heart would still be that simple and honest person. In that case, even if he was rejected, the anger he felt for being deceived and used would not be as strong.

“If this is what Cousin wants, then I can be the Fan JiJing in Cousin’s mind.” Fan JiJing said earnestly. For him, that simple and honest Fan JiJing was already a part of him, he was not completely feigning it. Therefore, it was not difficult for him even if he had to stay that way every single day.